Aretha Franklin Releases "Aretha" (1986 Album)

This is the third album with this title to be released by the artist. Other Franklin albums titled Aretha were also released in 1980 and 1961.

The album produced Aretha's first #1 Pop single in two decades with "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", a duet with George Michael. Aretha also yielded three other hit singles: "Jimmy Lee", "Rock-A-Lott" and a cover of The Rolling Stones' classic "Jumpin' Jack Flash". Franklin's vocal from "Rock-A-Lott" was sampled extensively in the 49ers' 1990 hit "Touch Me", while her version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was the title song for the film comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg. All four of the singles were shot as music videos that had wide airplay.

The album is noteworthy for the striking cover, which was Andy Warhol's final work before his death in early 1987. Following Aretha's first platinum record, Who's Zoomin' Who?, Aretha was certified gold in only several weeks. Before going out of print, the album sold more than 900,000 copies in the U.S. alone.